- The quest for a new Marilyn Monroe wig!!! Archived Message
Posted by Pamnaz
on April 29, 2020, 10:31 pm
|
Hi, all, As you probably know from previous posts, I just love Marilyn Monroe and the FM Marilyn Monroe doll and playing with her and designing for her (I still love Gene, too, there is room in my heart for everyone!)… Over the last few years I bought several bald, nude Marilyn's from Ebay with the intention of playing with them and customizing them. (Don't want to touch my mint Limited Edition dolls.) (FM MM dolls are all wigged so it is easy to remove their wigs if you want to play or if the original wig is shot.) Well, I really wanted a wig in the very light blonde/platinum color and style that Marilyn wore before her death in the early 60's, i.e., "Something's Got to Give" look. FM original wigs did not come in that color or style. So I decided I was going to try to make my own wig for her. Most manufactured wigs do not fit her right or are not the right style and look rather sad on her... especially because Marilyn has that signature widow's peak. A wig does not look right on her if her hairline is showing without the widow's peak and it is ill-fitting. So, I set out on a YouTube mission to find out how to make hard cap wigs. The challenge was on! (This was pre-Covid-19...) Acrylic Yarn Wig Cap Method: The video I focused on taught the Acrylic Yarn Method. The end result, albeit long straight hair, looked good so I thought I would give it a shot. While making the hard wig cap was easy enough, I am sorry to say that "combing" the acrylic yarn into wefts and preparing them with the hair straightener tool and applying them with glue was extremely tedious. I had used a white yarn thinking it would look platinum -- end result- TOTAL FAILURE! It looked ridiculous -- I've determined that this method is not intended for glamorous styles -- just long straight styles. If I ever make another wig cap I'm going to try using wig hair or something ready made...no more acrylic yarn for me! Failed Acrylic Yarn Method End Result (go ahead and laugh -- it won't hurt my feelings):  Liv Doll Wig: I had recently put this project aside and moved on to other things until recently when I found a light blonde/platinum Liv Doll wig that I had forgotten about that I had picked up years ago in Target and never used for any doll because it just didn't fit right. I decided to try it on MM because the hair color was close to what I want and the part was on the exact side and where I needed for Marilyn. I was thrilled that the wig fit MM to a tee.. almost like it was made for her (except for the widow's peak). So here is what I did to customize the Liv Doll wig for Marilyn.. Marilyn in Liv Wig -- what a good fit!  I carefully divided the hair into sections and cut it. That wig has A LOT of hair, so it took a while as I was going slowly. I am not a hairstylist so I tried my best to be careful. (I'm going to save the cut off hair for projects that require hair to peek out of hats or something like that.) It is starting to look promising....  Set the hair. One lesson learned is to not cut the bottom along the nape of the neck so short until curling it first. It was a pain trying to curl those short pieces -- I ended up cutting most of the very bottom layer really short.  Boil Perm/Steam the set. I held the wig over a steaming pot of water for few minutes, then poured the water in a glass bowl, waited a second or two and then dunked the wig in the hot water for a few seconds to set in the curls. Let it dry overnight.  Took out the set, styled (using a MM picture as a guide), and spritzed it like crazy with Revlon Finishing Spray for Acrylic Hair...which locked in the style. Voila! Marilyn has a new glamorous hairstyle.. (This style covers her widow's peak, so I think it works...what do you think?)  A quick test glamour shot with the wig on my doll with enhanced make-up..(I need to get this girl some eyelashes.) 
|
- Debra in Texas April 30, 2020, 7:29 pm